Official accounts published on Monday, September 14, 2026, revealed that Lord Wormald received a record exit settlement of £859,496 after serving 14 months as Cabinet Secretary. The payment, disclosed in the Cabinet Office’s annual report and accounts, followed his departure from the role leading the Civil Service under Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
The sum is the largest severance package ever awarded to a civil servant, exceeding the previous record of £457,000 paid to former Treasury chief Sir Tom Scholar in 2022. Earlier reports had estimated Lord Wormald’s payout would be approximately £500,000, but the final published figures showed the total was more than £350,000 higher than that estimate.
Correspondence from February 2026 shows that Cat Little, permanent secretary to the Cabinet Office, sought a ministerial direction from Sir Keir Starmer to approve the settlement. Little stated the payment was "greater than what Sir Chris Wormald would be contractually entitled to" and noted she could not conclude if it represented value for money. She stated she was informed the level was necessary because the departure from the "high profile, unique role" had been agreed at "very short notice."
Sir Keir responded that he was "satisfied that the public interest is met" to prevent distraction from government operations. Shadow Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart (Conservative) criticized the payment as an "appalling waste of taxpayers’ money," while a Cabinet Office representative declined to comment on HR matters, referring to the published exchange of letters between the Prime Minister and the permanent secretary.
Gareth Davies, head of the National Audit Office (NAO), has urged the Cabinet Office to review departure terms for senior officials. The move is intended to reduce "discretionary extra-contractual elements" in future payments. Mr. Davies noted he had "observed considerable variation" in exit payments for permanent and Cabinet secretaries. Lord Wormald, who took the title Baron Wormald of Dulwich in August 2026, continues his role as a crossbench peer.